Business & Finance

August 5, 2003

A weeklong internal review at MCI found no evidence to back allegations that the troubled telecommunications firm improperly rerouted calls to avoid paying access fees to rivals, The Wall Street Journal reported. Details of the inquiry were being presented to a bankruptcy court overseeing MCI's reorganization Monday. Meanwhile AT&T - one of MCI's main accusers - was facing claims by phone companies in Alaska and Mexico that it engaged in similar routing practices, the paper said. AT&T dismissed the claims as the result of a routine business dispute.

General Electric Co. agreed to the $1.9 billion sale of its bond-insurance unit to a group led by mortgage insurers PMI Group Inc., Bloomberg.com reported. Under the deal, part of GE's strategy to exit slower-growing businesses, San Francisco-based PMI is buying Financial Guaranty Insurance Co. with the backing of Blackstone Group LP, Cyprus Croup LC, and Bank of America Equity. PMI reportedly agreed to assume $100 million in debt, while GE will keep $160 million of the unit's profit as part of the sale.

American TV billionaire Haim Saban has renewed his bid for Germany's No. 2 television group, two months after a previous deal, reportedly worth $2.2 billion, collapsed. Creditors of bankrupt parent company KirchMedia are meeting Tuesday to review the latest offer for ProSiebenSat.1, a KirchMedia spokesman said, while declining to disclose further details.